AMBER Alert

Officials are trying to improve the state's AMBER Alert system after issuing the first alert for a missing Alabama child Tuesday.

The alert was issued at 12:38 p.m. Tuesday for 11-year-old Robert Beck, Jr. of Kinston.

Minutes later, the alert was canceled when law enforcement officials were told the boy had been returned home.

The alert came almost 24 hours after Robert was last seen. Public safety officials say it took that long to get enough information to meet the strict standards for issuing an AMBER Alert.

Kinston police said they would not comment on the abduction until tomorrow afternoon.

The only other Amber Alert issued in Alabama came June 30, when Florida issued a nationwide alert after a mother abducted her two children.

The system involves radio alert tones, "crawl" messages at the bottom of television screens and messages on road signs.

A team of public safety officials have assembled to look at the process and where it can be improved.

Alabama Broadcasters Association Executive Director Jerdan Bullard said he was happy with the system's performance. But he also said he knows there is room for improvement.

Among the questions to be answered are: Why several area media outlets were not notified of the alert.

And why investigators took so long to gather the necessary information to get the alert out.

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The AMBER Plan

The AMBER Plan is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases.

Broadcasters use the Emergency Alert System (EAS), formerly called the Emergency Broadcast System, to air a description of the missing child and suspected abductor.

This is the same concept used during severe weather emergencies. The goal of the AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and safe return of the child.

AMBER Creation

The AMBER Plan was created in 1996 as a powerful legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and brutally murdered while riding her bicycle in Arlington, Texas.

The tragedy shocked and outraged the entire community. Residents contacted radio stations in the Dallas area and suggested they broadcast special "alerts" over the airwaves so that they could help prevent such incidents in the future.

The Dallas/Fort Worth Association of Radio Managers teamed up with local law enforcement agencies in northern Texas and developed this innovative early warning system to help find abducted children.

How Does the AMBER Plan Work?

Once law enforcement has been notified about an abducted child, they must first determine if the case meets the AMBER Plan’s criteria for triggering an alert.

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children suggests three criteria that should be met before an Alert is activated.

Law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted.

Law enforcement believes the circumstances surrounding the abduction indicate that the child is in danger of serious bodily harm or death.

There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect’s vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.

If these criteria are met, alert information must be put together for public distribution.

This information can include descriptions and pictures of the missing child, the suspected abductor, a suspected vehicle, and any other information available and valuable to identifying the child and suspect.

The information is then faxed to radio stations designated as primary stations under the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

The primary stations send the same information to area radio and television stations and cable systems via the EAS, and it is immediately broadcast by participating stations to millions of listeners.

Radio stations interrupt programming to announce the Alert, and television stations and cable systems run a "crawl" on the screen along with a picture of the child.

Since the original AMBER Plan was established, 88 modified versions have been adopted at local, regional, and statewide levels. Thirty-eight states have a state-wide plan.

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